Hauling-rope grip for rope railways.



I. DUHLE. HAULING non: GRIP FOR ROPE RAILWAYS.

APPLIOATIOII FILED OUT. 10, 1911.

Patnted July 2, 1912.

III/I COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH (0.. WASHINGTON. D. c.

leverage.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIGE.

FRITZ DfiI-ILE, OE-LEIPZIG, GERMANY, ASSIGNUR TO" ADOLF BLEICHERT OFLEIPZIG-GOHLIS, GERMANY. V g

8:: COMPANY,

HAULING-ROPE GRIP FOR ROPE RAILWAYS.

Patented July 2, 1912. Serial No. 653,935.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRITZ DoHLE, residing at Leipzig, Germany, subjectof the German Emperor, have invented an Improved Hauling-Rope GripforRope Railways, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of my invention.

lVith the known haulage rope grips which are actuated by the weight ofthe load the grip is unable to open downward, since the weight of thehaulage rope, and the downwardly directed components of the rope tensionoccurring at variations of the gradient have the tendency to drag therope away from the grip. On the other hand grips opening upward havecertain constructional disadvantages, more particularly that ofrequiring a considerable length of the coupling and uncoupling devicesin the stations.

The object of the present invention is to remove the aforesaiddisadvantages of downwardly opening grips by providing anautomaticdevice whereby each tendency to drag the rope out of the gripincreases the force with which the grip holdsthe rope.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, which shows anexample in which the same is applied to a rope railway with the haulingrope below the carrying rope.

Figure 1 shows the device with the grip open, and Fig. 2 shows thedevice with the grip closed.

Loosely mounted in the carrier a, which has a depending arm I), there isa member a guided by convex surfaces 9 and by a link (Z which createsvery little friction and therefore does not interfere with theselflocking action. Connected by a pin f to the member 0 which carriesone of the jaws, is a lever e the shorter arm of which forms the secondjaw, the longer arm being guided in a recess in the arm 6 of the carriera. When, as shown in Fig. 1, the rollers it run on to the rail 2' andthereby lift the member 0 and the pivot f, the jaws of the grip open.When however the coupling rollers are free of the rails the whole weightof the hanger and the truck connected to the member 0 by the bolt is,acts on the pivot pin f and closes the grip with a power in proportionto the Every downward pull causes the grip to close more tightly. Henceany force tending to pull the rope away causes pressure increased inproportion to the leverage exerted on both sides of the rope, so thatcomplete or partial locking is effected. Since the suspension pivot isis located in the immediate vicinityof the hauling rope, the pressure onthe running wheels is evenly distributed and curves can be easily taken,oven on the hanger side, owing to there only being a narrow piece of thehanger between the disk and the grip. Further, such swinging movement ofthe hanger as occurs in the direction of travel has no appreciableeffect on the grip.

In order to prevent the opening of the gripby a possible upward pull onthe rope counteracting the weight of the load, a safety device isprovided in the form of a member Z adapted to lock the grip, said memberhaving a wedge shaped lower end which engages the surface n on the rilover a when the grip is closed (Fi 2) and the part Z is guided in themem er 0 to which is connected the second jaw. The wedge body Z has ahook-shaped projection m which is adapted to engage with inclined guidesat the station, for instance as shown in Fig. 1, with one of the railsfor the rollers it, this causing the wedge part to be lifted away fromits locking position.

The grip operates in the following manner: When the car leaves thestation, with the hauling rope gripped, the part m runs off the railsand the wedge drops between opposite surfaces of the parts a and e. Thewedge surface is so inclined that a perpendicular on the surface at,taken at the place of contact, lies above the pivot f, so that clockwiserotation of the lever, tending to open the grip, is prevented. If froman accidental cause, such as vibration, or by reason of pressure appliedto tighten the grip, the lever rotates in the opposite direction, thewedge drops farther down, and the grip is increased. The movement of thewedge between two members moving at different speeds in the samedirection results in a differential effect which produces a powerfullocking action, even with a small wedge angle. The locking actiondescribed also prevents relaxation of the grip when only a component ofthe load is actuating the grip, on a gradient.

-Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare thatwhat I claim is member guided in said carrier, a pair of jaws carried bysaid member, one of said jaws being movable with respect to the other ofsaid jaws, and means for closing said jaws as said member moves downwardwith respect to said carrier.

3.- In a device of the class described, in combination, a carrier, avertically movable member guided in said carrier, a pair of downwardlyopening jaws carried by said member, one of said jaws being movable withrespect to the other of said jaws, and means for closing said jaws assaid member moves downward with respect to said carrier.

4. In a ropeway -car, in combination, a carrier, a vertically movablemember guided in said carrier, a pair of jaws carried by said member, ahanger pivotally connected to one of said jaws, and means for closingsaid jaws as said member moves downward with respect to said carrier.

5. In a device of the class described, in combination, a carrier, avertically movable member guided in said carrier, a pair of jaws carriedby said member, one of said jaws being movable with respect to the otherof said jaws, means for closing said jaws as said member moves downwardwith respect to said carrier, and means for automatically locking saidjaws in their lowest closed position.

6. In a device of the class described, in combination, a carrier, avertically movable member guided in said carrier, a jaw carried by saidmember, a second jaw pivotally mounted upon said member and cooperatingwith said first-mentioned jaw, and means for closing said jaws as saidmember moves downward with respect to said carrier.

7. In a device of the class described, in combination, a carrier, avertically movable member guided in said carrier, a jaw carried by saidmember, a lever pivotally mounted upon said member, said levercomprising a jaw cooperating with said firstmentioned jaw, said memberbeing further provided with an arm, and means upon said carrier andco-acting with said arm to open and close said jaws as said member movesupward and downward with respect to said carrier.

8. In a device of the class described, in combination, a carrier, avertically movable member guided in said carrier, a jaw carried by saidmember, a lever pivotally mounted upon said member, said levercomprising a jaw cooperating with said firstmentioned jaw, said memberbeing further provided with an arm, means upon said carrier andco-acting with said arm to open and close said aws as said member movesupward and downward with respect to said carrier, and means adapted toengage said lever to lock the jaws in their closed position.

In witness whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo witnesses.

FRITZ DClHLE.

Witnesses RUDOLPH FRIOKE, ALBERT R. MORAWETZ,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

